While the sport of skateboarding has been known for some time, it has become immensely popular in the past few years. Further, skateboarding has primarily been a street sport for teens but there are currently many public and private skate-parks in the United States, with skateboarding being recognized as a viable form of recreation and physical activity for today's contemporary youth. Skateboards are elongated boards or platforms designed to hold a person, generally, in a standing position. Pairs of wheels are attached to the underside of the board near the front and the back by devices commonly referred to as trucks.
Skateboarding generally includes travel over smooth surfaces, which may be flat, curved, or slanted, to allow for fast easy movement. A common maneuver or stunt performed by skateboarders with some degree of skill is to “grind” the skateboard on objects and surfaces such as rails and curbs. In this maneuver the wheels are free of the surface and only the trucks are engaged to slide along the object. As can be readily understood, this sliding of the trucks on various objects can produce substantial wear on the trucks. Also, substantial slowing of the skateboarder occurs during the maneuver and the skateboarder can actually get hung up on a rail or curb, resulting in spills, falls, or wipeouts, which can result in painful cuts, abrasions, contusions, and possibly even broken bones.
Some attempts have been made to form the trucks with a smooth surface to enhance the grinding maneuver. However, the wear on these trucks is still substantial and the trucks must be replaced periodically. In the past it has been customary to apply skate wax or otherwise treat the surfaces, in advance, over which the grinding was to occur. However, this requires substantial time and effort in advance and is relatively costly, since a substantial amount of skate wax is required. Also, if the waxing is done in a public area there is an increased risk of other pedestrians slipping when holding onto a waxed railing or when stepping off of a waxed curb.
It would be highly advantageous, therefore, to remedy the foregoing and other deficiencies inherent in the prior art.
Accordingly, it is an object the present invention to provide new and improved skateboard truck shields that provide a smooth surface for grinding maneuvers and the like.
Another object of the present invention is to provide new and improved skateboard truck shields that provide a smooth safe surface for maneuvers such as grinding and the like.
Another object of the present invention is to provide new and improved skateboard truck shields that are simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
And another object of the present invention is to provide new and improved skateboard truck shields that are easily installed or replaced by the skateboard operator with a minimum amount of effort.